The potential use of tar sand bitumen as paving asphalt The eight deposits and their relative favorability rankings for commercial development, based only on the deposit characteristics, are Sunnyside, Utah Asphalt Ridge, Utah Edna, California Santa Rosa, New Mexico Tar Sand Triangle, Utah PR Spring, Utah Uvalde, Texas and circle cliffs, Utah.« less Because only one of the four major categories was used for this initial favorability ranking, and also because the available deposit characteristic data were barely adequate for the test, these first results should be used only as an example of how the methodology is to be applied when more complete data are available. This initial, and only partial favorability assessment, was solely a test of the methodology, and it was considered successful. Eight tar sand deposits were evaluated using only one major category, deposit characteristics. A numerical value was assigned each element to signify its estimatedmore » importance relative to the other elements. The elements were assessed singly and in interactive groups to determine their influence on favorability for commercial development. To facilitate their evaluation, deposit characteristics, extraction technologies, environmental controls, and institutional constraints were broken down into their elements. Major categories influencing favorability were identified and evaluated to determine their individual and collective impacts. Ranking methodology for determining the relative favorability for commercial development of US tar-sand depositsĪs a part of the DOE's program to stimulate petroleum production from unconventional sources, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a methodology to compare and rank tar sand deposits, based on their suitability for commercial development. 22 r9 ESTIMATED CALIFORNIA TAR SAND DISTRIBUTION 7 UINTA BASIN, UTAH PROPERTIES -SUNNYSIDE. **.* 7 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF UTAH’S MAJOR TAR SANDS. Thermal modeling is used to examine the history of potential source rocksĪviation Turbine Fuels from Tar Sands Bitumen and Heavy Oils.
Maximum formation temperatures of about 105-110?C were reached at about 24 Ma, just prior to unroofing. Time-temperature modeling indicates that the formation experienced temperatures of 85-90?C from about 35 to 40 Ma during maximum burial. Burial reconstruction suggests that the White Rim Sandstone reached its maximum burial depth from 60 to 24 Ma, and that maximum burial was followed by unroofing from 24 to 0 Ma. The fluid inclusions are associated with fluorescent oil-bearing inclusions, indicating that dolomite precipitation was coeval with oil migration. Homogenization temperatures cluster around 85-90?C for primary fluid inclusions in authigenic, nonferroan dolomite in the White Rim. This conclusion is based on integration of fluid inclusion analysis, time-temperature reconstruction, and apatite fission-track modeling for the White Rim Sandstone. Oil is interpreted to have migrated into the White Rim sometime during the Tertiary when the formation was at a depth of approximately 3500 m. The tar is primarily contained within the Lower Permian White Rim Sandstone, but extends into permeable parts of overlying and underlying beds. The deposit is thought to have originally contained 13-16 billion bbl prior to the biodegradation, water washing, and erosion that have taken place since the middle - late Tertiary.
The Tar Sand triangle in southeastern Utah contains the largest tar sand accumulation in the United States, with 6.3 billion bbl of heavy oil estimated to be in place. In many of these deposits, the source of the oil is unknown, and the oil is thought to have migrated over long distances to the reservoirs. In these large deposits of degraded oil, the oil in place represents only a fraction of what was present at the time of accumulation. Naeser, N.D.Ī large proportion (about 36%) of the world's oil resource is contained in accumulations of heavy oil or tar. The search for a source rock for the giant Tar Sand triangle accumulation, southeastern Utah